{"id":191043,"date":"2026-04-09T16:22:28","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T16:22:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/191043\/"},"modified":"2026-04-09T16:22:28","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T16:22:28","slug":"top-democrats-gather-in-new-york-for-al-sharptons-annual-convention","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/191043\/","title":{"rendered":"Top Democrats gather in New York for Al Sharpton\u2019s annual convention"},"content":{"rendered":"

(NewsNation<\/a>) \u2014 Some of the biggest names in the Democratic party<\/a> are taking center stage this week at the Rev. Al Sharpton\u2019s annual National Action Network Convention in New York City as the party looks toward the 2028 presidential election.<\/p>\n

Former Vice President Kamala Harris is slated to speak alongside a list of likely presidential contenders, who are making their pitch to Black voters. The event is centered on making the Democrats\u2019 messaging clear for the midterms and beyond<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker<\/a> are set to speak Thursday, with Harris and Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on the schedule for Friday. Harris\u2019 appearance could give her a chance to reassert her place as the front-runner in what could become a crowded 2028 field.<\/p>\n

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Sharpton says he wants the candidates to share their vision for the party\u2019s future \u2014 and some say it\u2019s time for a change.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need more moral clarity in our party. And conviction in our party,\u201d said Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif. \u201cWe are going to stand for human rights in this country. We\u2019re going to stand for economic rights and economic justice, and we\u2019re going to stand for a moral vision of America. What I would say is that the Democratic Party, we need to let it rip a little more. We need to talk about our moral vision a little bit more. We need to be conviction-based.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro<\/a> says Democrats need to rethink their message heading into the next White House race. He says the party needs to have a real debate about what it stands for.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we have this national referendum in the midterms and people show up in record numbers, we have an opportunity to have a real debate within our party about what we stand for. About what our affirmative vision is,\u201d Shapiro said. \u201cWhat I can tell you for sure is I want to be a part of that debate.\u201d<\/p>\n

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In response, Sharpton asked Shapiro if he wanted to be \u201cpossibly part of our National Action Network\u2019s 2028 Democratic presidential debate?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know if I said that,\u201d Shapiro said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut you didn\u2019t deny it either,\u201d Sharpton countered.<\/p>\n

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is another likely contender for the 2028 presidential race, but his team says he won\u2019t be attending the convention due to a scheduling conflict. However, Newsom met with Sharpton earlier this year to discuss his vision for the future.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NewsNation. <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(NewsNation) \u2014 Some of the biggest names in the Democratic party are taking center stage this week at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":191044,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[76485,11159,651,76486,76308,10811,75072,9,24,55,54,56,76487,76307],"class_list":{"0":"post-191043","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-city","8":"tag-2028-presidential-election","9":"tag-al-sharpton","10":"tag-democratic-party","11":"tag-democratic-presidential-debate","12":"tag-josh-shapiro","13":"tag-kamala-harris","14":"tag-national-action-network","15":"tag-new-york","16":"tag-new-york-city","17":"tag-new-york-city-headlines","18":"tag-new-york-city-news","19":"tag-ny","20":"tag-presidential-contenders","21":"tag-wes-moore"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191043","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=191043"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191043\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/191044"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=191043"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=191043"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=191043"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}